Homeowners Complain Of Davie Trail

July 19, 2000|BY TAMIKA SIMMONS Staff Writer

DAVIE — The way the homeowners tell the story, they came to Imagination Farms hoping to have the lifestyle the glossy brochures promised: Large lots, spacious floor plans and for some, a secluded back yard along a trail that sales associates said was only for horses and owners.

But, depending on who you ask, home buyers either got a noisy recreational trail behind their homes, or they were hoodwinked by sales associates who sold them on a secluded area that turned out to be anything but.

Both the developer, Howard M. Zimmerman, and officials at Town Hall say there should be no reason for anyone who bought a home in the subdivision to be surprised by anything that appears there. Research and a glance at the site plan would have told potential buyers that their lots would face an equestrian and recreational trail, part of the town's prized 40-mile trail system.

Zimmerman said his sales associates had no reason to misrepresent the nature of the lots in his development.

Imagination Farms is bordered by Orange Drive to the south and Boy Scout Road to the west.

"From the town's perspective, the trail design was reflected on all the site plans, and the site plans were available for everyone," said Bob Rawls, Davie's assistant town administrator.

"It certainly wasn't the town's desire that this would be any type of surprise, and we hoped that it would be viewed as an asset."

The homeowners don't see it that way.

Some of them paid premiums of up to $32,000 to have lots that overlook an equestrian horse trail.

Sales associates, the homeowners contend, told them the trail would never be paved. They were also told the trail sat in front of environmentally protected land, frequented by blue herons and egrets.

Soon after moving in, the residents made a disturbing discovery.

The dirt trail had become asphalt and was wide enough to allow a car to travel on it.

A few times, residents said, they were awakened in the middle of the night by all-terrain vehicles roaring along the path.

The final straw came when a nanny sitting with a child in the back yard watched horrified as a man pulled down his pants and urinated into the canal.

Lack of privacy

Furious that the seclusion they said sales associates promised them has been compromised, 32 homeowners signed a petition requesting that Zimmerman build a berm with foliage around the entire development and post a sign that would prohibit fishing.

"I thought this was going to be perfect. I would have total privacy," said Steve Parra, the homeowner who led the petition drive. "But now I'm actually worse off than I ever imagined."

Parra said his $239,000 home on Southwest 40th Street was his dream. He pictured sitting in his back yard watching the birds that are his passion.

Parra even had an artist friend decorate a stained glass panel with egrets that sits on a wall in his foyer.

Parra said the sales associate who sold him his lot promised him he would never see anything more than a horse and its owner along the trail.

When he questioned the future of the path, the salesperson said it sat in front of the Flamingo Road environmentally sensitive land site, 155 acres of nature preserve.

"She told me not to worry about it," Parra said.

"[The trail] would stay the same."

Parra's neighbors, Dana and Jacques Godel, tell the same story. The couple said they asked very pointed questions about the trail before they plunked down a $16,000 premium for their lot.

"I personally called the town of Davie and asked them what plans they had for the trail, and no one told me to expect this," said Dana Godel.

Zimmerman "should be giving us a discount for living here," she said.

"We should not of had to pay a premium."

The issues with the trail don't end with lack of privacy. There is also concern that one of the all-terrain vehicle riders could tumble into the canal next to the trail, possibly making residents liable for any injuries or damage.

`They lied to us'

"I'm telling you they lied to us," said Melissa Zachariasz.

"My nanny won't even bring the baby outside. She said some guy keeps watching her from the trail."

Whatever the residents' concerns, they are unlikely to get recourse from the developer.

"Let them give the petition to the town. I'm just doing what I was asked to do," Zimmerman said. "The premium they're paying is for the lake that they are on and the size of their lots."

As for the loud riders and the overexposed stranger, that's a police issue, Zimmerman said.

The town said it has these problems under control.

Officer Laverne Jones of the Davie Police Department said officers identified the man seen urinating along the trail's canal bank. He has been fishing there for years.

"He's not a sexual predator," Jones said.

"This was not at all as it appeared."

Councilwoman Judy Paul, who lives in neighboring Oak Hill, said she walked the trail with an all-terrain vehicle expert. The expert said the tracks along the trail were very old.

The residents might have been hearing the noise from the vehicles in a nearby field, Paul said.

"I think it's a matter of perception that [residents] thought they were backing up to the proverbial national forest," Rawls said.

"On the one hand, I can understand their concerns. We're just not in any position to resolve it."

Tamika Simmons can be reached at tsimmons@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7909.